5 easy ways with kimchi

So you may have heard of kimchi before and how it can benefit your gut, you may have considered buying or already have got a jar of it in your kitchen but are wondering what on earth to do with it?!

5 easy ways with kimchi Advice Dinner Lunch vegan

What is it?

Firstly, for those who may not be too familiar with it, kimchi is a spicy, fermented mix of veg usually cabbage, carrot, raddish etc which comes from Korea and has a heat and pickled taste to it. As it’s fermented it’s high in probiotic bacteria, the best way to maximise on this is to source a good quality one that hasn’t been pasterised although even the type that has gone through this process and therefore is stored at room temp will still have benefits.

Uses

There are many ways to use kimchi, it’s so versatile and because it doesn’t require any cooking or prep it’s pretty easy to incorporate into food, but here are my top and favourite ways to consume it:

1) In a burger/veggie burger
People often look toward sauces for adding flavour to burger but a great way to add more veg and fiber to this meal is by adding a handful of kimchi, it gives lots of spice and tang, think about the traditional sauerkraut on hotdogs type of thing! For this recipe I used “Yumchi kimchi” which you can get in Planet organic/Wholefoods and on Amazon.

5 easy ways with kimchi Advice Dinner Lunch vegan

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Spiced pumpkin breakfast muffins

Super healthy, easy, spiced pumpkin muffins using oats as the bulk of the recipe meaning it’s like breakfast in muffin form, plus the added spices are all anti-inflammatory and give flavour without more sugar. I’ve also added in some plant protein to balance out the carbs and improve satiety.

Spiced pumpkin breakfast muffins Breakfast snack vegan

Fun pumpkin breakfast muffins or a stealth, health snack.

You can adjust them for a more indulgent snack with addition of dark choc & increasing the sweetness by 1 tablespoon or use for a breakfast option as they go really well with some nut butter, so once you have a batch cooked it’ll last you a few days meaning a quick breakfast ready to go which always helps me get out of bed!
You can also adapt this to suit many diets such as gluten free, dairy free and vegan just use certified ingredients where needed. They’re also a good way to sneak some veg into kids too.

Spiced pumpkin breakfast muffins Breakfast snack vegan

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Pumpkin pie spice protein overnight oats

Try saying that name 3 times fast!
A great combo of high fiber ingredients plus quality protein and a seasonal dose of pumpkin as well as warming spices!
I highly recommend using the spice mix (linked below) as this ingredient really takes it to the next level.

Pumpkin pie spice protein overnight oats Breakfast vegan

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No bake double chocolate coconut donuts

Great for those hot summer days when you don’t want to turn on the oven and make the kitchen even hotter!!
These no bake donuts are a great combo of rich, dark cacao plus coconut and dates for natural sweetness so they’re not loaded with refined sugars.

No bake double chocolate coconut donuts Desserts energy balls snack vegan

Free from donut goodness!

This recipe is also easy to adapt i.e. use gluten free oats for coeliac and a dark choc that’s dairy free etc plus it’s free from refined sugars and I added a superfood blend by VeganTek which has lots of fantastic ingredients in it including ones good for digestion and probiotics which are even more effective because the mix doesn’t need to be heated.
You can even use one after a workout as a refueling treat or a way to satisfy your chocolatey cravings in a more nutritious way!

No bake double chocolate coconut donuts Desserts energy balls snack vegan

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Grain free, carrot cake banana bread

A healthier, grain free, sugar free but not taste free carrot cake banana bread!
Because this uses non grain based ingredients it’s also gluten free and can be made vegan too, see notes below.

Gut friendly carrot cake loaf

I used a single ripe banana in this recipe for natural sweetness and moisture plus it also means you don’t need any sugar but as usual you can adapt this to suit your own tastes. I’ve also included some optional additions that are great ingredients to add if you would like to increase gut health. For example, collagen is high in amino acids which are heavily involved in gut cell lining replication and baobab/tigernut flour are prebiotic foods, plus the more you diversify your diet the more diverse your gut will also be.

Grain free, carrot cake banana bread Breakfast Grainfree snack vegan

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Easy, veggie meatballs

I don’t often make my own veggie meatballs because most recipes i see tend to use loads of ingredients or require things like cooked quinoa or breadcrumbs so I wanted to make a fairly simple recipe. These are even better than I originally thought they would be because of the sweet sun dried tomatoes adding major flavour which go really well with any herbed gravy you have. They add a kind of meaty texture too plus lots of nutrition, not to mention the fiber that’s also in this recipe.

Easy, veggie meatballs Dinner vegan

 

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